. >>> president obama's pick for defense secretary just got a huge endorsement. democratic senator chuck schumer says he supports chuck hagel after a 90-minute meeting at the white house. critics, though, blasting some of hagel's past comments including the one in which hagel said, quote, the jewish lobby has intimidated lawmakers on israel. schumer, who is jewish, says he will vote for hagel's confirmation after hagel clarified his remarks. >>> venezuela's vice president expected to deliver a state of the nation speech today. standing in for president hugo chavez who is still in cuba, recovering, continuing to get those cancer treatments. but a lot of venezuelans are just focused on finding everyday essentials, talking about eggs and flour, even toilet paper, very tough to come by, in many stores in venezuela right now. alejandra ora joins me. >> the central bank reported that the shortage increased at the fastest pace in the last three years after president chavez announced he was going to travel to cuba to get cancer treatment. however, it is important to emph